The sport of rugby union has some truly epic rivalries at international level, which only serve to make encounters between such sides all the more thrilling for fans and neutrals alike.<\/p>\n
While you might think of England and Scotland or perhaps Fiji and Samoa in this scenario, one particular rivalry is undoubtedly one of the greats, namely South Africa and Australia \u2013 and here we take a closer look at why.<\/p>\n
A fierce history<\/strong><\/p>\n Perhaps one of the core reasons is the ferocious history between the two sides. Even though as separate entities South African and Australian rugby union<\/a> have hundreds of collective years of playing the game between them, it\u2019s been argued things only started coming to a head in the early 1990s when the sport went professional.<\/p>\n Prior to this, tours between each nation had been going on since the 1930s, with South Africa enjoying the larger share of success. However, from 1972-1992 \u2013 also linked to the issues stemming from apartheid \u2013 the two didn\u2019t meet.<\/p>\n But then, once the professional era was established and the games returned, regular tours and multiple annual series have become commonplace, with Australia becoming much more of a force to be reckoned with in rugby union. Since this, the win ratios have been much more balanced.<\/p>\n Similar levels of recent success<\/strong><\/p>\n According to a quote from The Guardian<\/a> by former Wallaby, Clyde Rathbone, \u201cit\u2019s the similarities more than the differences that drive it\u201d when it comes to this rivalry and a look through the record books suggests this is the case.<\/p>\n